Year after battery issue, Dreamliner still has glitches

The Boeing Co.’s plane of the future continues to be dogged by problems of in-service reliability and factory production.

A year ago today, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered U.S. 787s grounded after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two airplanes. As is usually the case, foreign regulators grounded their Dreamliners, too. All 50 of the 787s then in service sat idle for 100 days.

Some seven months later, a battery cell on a plane undergoing routine maintenance in Tokyo this week started smoldering. Boeing noted that the redesigned system safely vented the fumes. But the fact remains the battery malfunctioned.

The ongoing battery issue might be the most prominent problem with Dreamliners, but it’s not the only one, or even the most disruptive, and airlines have been vocal about Boeing’s response to ongoing glitches that result in flight cancellations or delays.

Earlier this month, Norwegian Air told news media that it had pressed Boeing for better support when one of its handful of Dreamliners is out of service. The carrier seemed satisfied with its conversation with Boeing about “squawks,” as they are called in the industry — non-critical problems that interfere with routine operations.

For its part, Boeing has been mostly silent on the reliability issue.

“The 787 program has matured and is reaching new levels of stability and performance regularly,” Kate Bergman, a Boeing spokeswoman, said Wednesday. “We’re pleased with the progress being made across the production program — from suppliers through Boeing.”

She declined to comment about specific issues, saying only that the company and suppliers address them as they come up.

The Dreamliner program’s heavy reliance on non-Boeing parts or assemblies from a far-flung supply chain has been an issue for years. Some workers on the 787 line in Everett say supply- chain issues have improved but aren’t completely resolved.

None of the workers was authorized to publicly comment and agreed only to speak on the condition of anonymity.

“The systems on the plane are getting better,” including those from vendors, said a Boeing worker in preflight and delivery, where planes are thoroughly checked and fixed as needed before being turned over to a customer. “But there are still growing pains with the systems on the plane talking with each other.” In other words, software.

Suppliers aren’t the only problem. Everett workers have long complained about problems with work coming out of the North Charleston, S.C., plant, where Boeing established a second 787 assembly line. Some Everett workers said the quality of components coming out of South Carolina improved for a time but declined again as the company pushed late last year to increase the production rate to 10 planes per month.

“We inherit their work,” said an Everett worker.

That extra work in Everett sometimes leads to additional delays, he said.

One thing seems certain: The Dreamliner isn’t going away. Airlines ordered 182 of them in 2013, and Boeing has a backlog of 916 unfilled orders, according to the company’s website.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com.

A year of 787 squawks

Jan. 7, 2013: The lithium-ion battery system on a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 catches fire while the airplane is parked in Boston.

Jan. 11, 2013: The Federal Aviation Administration says it will conduct a review of the design of 787 electrical systems.

Jan. 7, 2014:Norwegian Air says it has pressed Boeing to resolve technical problems more quickly. A series of glitches stranded passengers. The carrier is using the Dreamliner exclusively to expand global service.